6.  The applicant was born in 1929 and lives in Rzeszów.
7.  The applicant, who was an advocate, made a declaration under the provisions of the Lustration Act 1997 that she had never secretly collaborated with the communist secret service. She only admitted that between 1945 and 1953 she had been working at the Security Office (Urząd Bezpieczeństwa) in Rzeszów as an office assistant, but in 1953 she had left the job.
8.  On 14 April 1999 the Commissioner of Public Interest (Rzecznik Interesu Publicznego) applied to the Warsaw Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny), acting as the first‑instance Lustration Court (sąd lustracyjny), to institute proceedings in the applicant's case under the Lustration Act (ustawa lustracyjna) on the ground that the applicant had lied in her declaration by denying her collaboration with the secret services after 1953. (This security service was known as Urząd Bezpieczeństwa, but after 1956 it was called Slużba Bezpieczeństwa.)
9.  On 31 May 1999 the applicant was notified that lustration proceedings had been instituted concerning her declaration (oświadczenie lustracyjne).
10.  On 9 September 1999 the Warsaw Court of Appeal, acting as the first-instance court, held a hearing in the applicant's case. The Commissioner of Public Interest requested the court to conduct a public hearing and the applicant supported this motion. She was questioned by the court and commented on the evidence at the court's disposal. The file of the case was composed of the applicant's lustration declaration, copies of certain documents contained in the applicant's file compiled by the communist secret police and of the Commissioner's application for lustration proceedings to be instituted. Towards the end of the hearing, both the Commissioner and the applicant declared that they had no request for further evidence to be taken by the court. The court closed the hearing.
11.  However, on 13 September 1999 the applicant requested the court to take further evidence. She submitted various documents concerning her professional career, her character and morality.
12.  On 15 September 1999 the court re-opened the hearing and admitted the applicant's documents to the case file. It then closed the hearing again.
13.  On 16 September 1999 the court sent the applicant the operative part of its judgment of 15 September 1999, by which it had found that the applicant had submitted an untrue lustration declaration because she had been an intentional, secret collaborator of the communist secret services after 1953. It further informed the applicant that the written grounds of the judgment had been prepared under Article 100 § 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and that she could consult them in the office of its secret registry (kancelaria tajna). As she had not appointed legal representation, the full written grounds could only be read by herself, to the exclusion of all other persons, except the Commissioner of Public Interest.
14.  The applicant appealed.
15.  On 8 November 1999 the Warsaw Court of Appeal, acting as the second‑instance lustration court, dismissed her appeal and upheld the first‑instance judgment.
16.  On 22 November 1999 the same court informed the applicant that the written grounds of that judgment had been prepared under Article 100 § 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and that she could consult them at the office of the court's secret registry.
17.  The applicant lodged a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court, which held a hearing on 10 October 2000, but the applicant chose not to attend. The Court allowed the Commissioner's request to examine the applicant's appeal in camera, having regard to Article 360 § 1 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. By a judgment of the same date the Court dismissed the applicant's cassation appeal.